


spin cycle of my heart

by xiushine



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Implied Insomnia, M/M, Wonwoo is a shy boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 15:50:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16579523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xiushine/pseuds/xiushine
Summary: There's a boy sitting in front of Wonwoo's  washing machine at the laundromat, watching his clothes spin. Wonwoo wonders why the universe subjects him to weird people at 3am.





	spin cycle of my heart

Wonwoo doesn't sleep much these days. His brain can't seem to quieten down. There are too many thoughts swimming around, but none of them are within reach.

He's spent the last hour or so laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling fan as it spins and spins and spins. He feels like his head is spinning with it.

He sits up with a huff, swinging his legs down from the bed. He looks around the dark room and his eyes land on the growing pile of laundry in his basket and he figures that he might as well get something done if he can't sleep. At least he's living in a dorm and there's no nagging mother around to scold him about his erratic sleep cycles.

He stuffs his laundry into a duffel bag and grabs his wallet and keys. He doesn't bother to change out of his pyjamas and heads out to the 24-hour laundromat that's a 20 minute walk from his campus.

The laundromat is empty when he gets there, which isnt surprising for three in the morning. He loads up one of the washing machines and inserts the coins.

He's about to take a seat on one of the benches when his stomach rumbles softly. He looks down at his belly and sighs. Well, he might as well drop by the convenience store too, he's got time to kill while his laundry spins.

The convenience store is just across the street, and Wonwoo looks both ways before he crosses the road even though the road is empty for miles.

A bell jingles softly as he pushes open the glass door and the one night-shift worker on duty looks up from his sweeping. The worker is a young man, probably around Wonwoo's age. Wonwoo doesn't say hi and disappears silently between the shelves.

Wonwoo heads to the chillers first, looking through the choices of microwaveable food. Then, he looks through the variety of instant noodles. After that, he looks through the drinks and the ice cream. He walks through every aisle, even the ones that don't hold food. He's got plenty of time.

The young employee is back behind the cashier by the time Wonwoo makes his way there with his selections in hand.

"Pulling an all nighter?" The cashier smiles kindly at him. His name tag reads 'Jun'.

Wonwoo hesitates, he's not usually one for small talk.

"No," he finally answers after a beat, he figures it'd be rude to just ignore the guy, "couldn't sleep."

"Oh, that sucks," Jun nods sympathetically, then smiles again, "wait here."

He walks out of the counter and towards the drinks. He returns with a small carton of milk and a stick of honey.

"Here, this is on me." Jun places the items down on the counter, "Pour the honey in the milk and go microwave it, I always find that warm milk helps me sleep."

Wonwoo stares at the items dumbly, unsure of how to respond, until Jun chuckles fondly and points behind Wonwoo.

"The microwave's at the back of the store," Jun's smile reaches his eyes.

"Thank you," Wonwoo mumbles as he reaches out to take the milk and his purchases. He shuffles quietly to the microwave and ignores the heat in his ears.

He eats his food quickly, hunched over one of the tables in the store, keeping his head firmly down to avoid anymore eye contact with Jun. It's not that Wonwoo doesn't like the guy, and he really does appreciate the milk, but Wonwoo hadn't really been prepared to interact with other humans when he started his midnight venture and he doesn't quite know what to do with himself now.

He finishes his food in minutes, and spends the next few sitting and mulling over what he should do as he sips on his milk. He tells himself that he'll go and thank Jun once more, and maybe introduce himself, since he knows Jun's name from reading his name tag so it's only fair that he offer his name too. He spends another few minutes gathering the courage to actually stand up and do it.

Eventually, he makes his way back to the counter where Jun is flipping through a book.

"Um," Wonwoo starts. Jun looks up at him and smiles that same kind smile. "thanks again, for the milk."

"You're welcome, I hope you liked it."

"I'm Wonwoo," Wonwoo mumbles.

"I'm Junhui," Jun beams. Wonwoo nods once and gives a small wave before shuffling out of the store.

When he returns to the laundromat, there's another young man sitting on the floor, in front of the machine that holds Wonwoo's laundry. Wonwoo wonders why the universe is subjecting him to so many people tonight.

He doesn't know how he's supposed to react to the man in front of his washing machine, its not like he's waiting for Wonwoo to be done with the machine since there are at least three other empty machines and he doesn't seem to have any laundry bags with him. So Wonwoo just stands there staring until the guy notices him.

Wonwoo looks between the guy and his washing machine with wide eyes, hoping that the man understands the implicit questioning.

"Oh! Is the load yours?" The man says, scrambling to get up from the floor.

When Wonwoo only nods silently, the man forces an embarrassed laugh, hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck as his ears turn red.

"Sorry," the man says, "I just like to watch the machine spin when I'm stressed out."

Wonwoo nods silently again, but slower, so the man knows he understands, kind of.

"Uh, my name's Soonyoung," the man speaks up again when it's evident that Wonwoo won't be saying anything. His smile is awkward, his ears are still red.

"Wonwoo," Wonwoo mumbles, he's given out his name more times tonight than he has this entire semester.

He sits down on the spot next to where Soonyoung once sat, leaning his head against the wall and looking up at his new 'friend' expectantly.

Soonyoung beams, bright and happy, and sits next to him. He doesn't seem to be shy anymore, comfortably pressing his shoulder against Wonwoo's.

"So what are you doing here so late?" Soonyoung asks. For some reason, Wonwoo opens up and tells him.

Wonwoo supposes that maybe he needs more of these kinds of friendly outgoing people in his life. He'd never make friends on his own if left to his own devices.

 

***

 

Wonwoo learns that Soonyoung goes to the same school as he does, and stays at the dorms at the opposite end of campus from him. They're from different majors, which explains why Wonwoo's never seen him around before. Soonyoung tells Wonwoo about his friends at the dance studio and Wonwoo listens, because he doesn't have many friends of his own. Wonwoo does tell Soonyoung about the nice man at the convenience store though.

They agree to meet again for lunch the next day.

 

***

 

Wonwoo doesn't wake up in time for lunch. By the time he'd gotten home and fallen asleep, the sun had begun to rise again and he remained asleep until his alarm woke him up for his 4pm lecture.

He remains groggily oblivious to his missed appointment until midway through his lectute, when his phone starts vibrating with a flurry of apologetic texts from Soonyoung.

 

_Oh shit I just woke up_  
_I'M SO SORRY_  
_For missing lunch_  
_Pls don't be mad at me_  
_i'm SORRY_  
_AAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

 

 

_oh it's okay I forgot about lunch too, I'm in class now_

 

_Oh thank goodness_  
_I thought you'd be waiting for hours and hours and hate me_  
_So uhhhh_  
_Dinner?_  
_:)_

 

_okay_

 

***

  
They meet for dinner that night, and the next night, and the night after that. When Wonwoo makes his next midnight laundry run, he texts Soonyoung to tell him so. Soonyoung helps him carry his laundry and follows him back to his dorm.

At some point, Soonyoung's stuff begins to accumulate in Wonwoo's room. In part because he's super forgetful, but also because he knows he'll be back for them soon.

Sometimes Soonyoung spends the night at Wonwoo's dorm when it gets really late and Wonwoo still can't sleep. They sit on the mattress, propped up against the wall, talking about whatever pops into Soonyoung's mind. They wake up the next afternoon tangled up in each other.

They never talk about whatever is between them, but Wonwoo thinks it's obvious enough.

 

***

 

They're back at the laundromat in the middle of the night again. Wonwoo never intended for this to be a regular thing when he made that first trip that night, but he can't bring himself to do the laundry during the day now. The laundromat is their thing.

  
He leans his head on Soonyoung's shoulder and feels the other tense up. He notices Soonyoung's fingers twitching in his lap, almost as if he doesn't quite know what to do with his body now that Wonwoo has initiated physical affection. Wonwoo smiles a small secretive smile, and reaches out to grab his hand. His fingers graze over Soonyoung's pulse point, feeling the race of his heart, and intertwines their fingers. He closes his eyes and falls asleep right there in the laundromat.

 

***

 

He wakes up hours later with an ache in his neck, his laundry cycle long finished. He looks up at Soonyoung and finds him asleep too.

Soonyoung makes quite an amusing sight, mouth hanging open as his head is propped up against the wall. Snickering, Wonwoo leans up and presses a kiss to Soonyoung's cheek. He doesn't stir.

Wonwoo quietly gets up and unloads the machine, stuffing the clothes back into his duffel bag. When he's done and Soonyoung still hasn't woken, Wonwoo bends down and gently nudges him. When that fails, Wonwoo grins and takes Soonyoung's face in his hands. He starts smacking Soonyoung's round cheeks. That does the trick, and Soonyoung startles awake to the sound of Wonwoo's laughter and his cheeks buzzing warmly.

His ears redden and he shouts indignantly, tackling Wonwoo to the ground and digging his fingers into Wonwoo's ribs until he's giggling and squirming under Soonyoung.

Soonyoung finally let's up when they're both breathless with laughter. He flops to the ground next to Wonwoo and they lay there on the floor of the laundromat giggling as they try to catch their breath. Wonwoo wonders how ridiculous they must look, but he thinks that as long as he's with Soonyoung, he doesn't mind being silly at all.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on twt @xiushine_


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